King County Metro has second-fastest rider increase in U.S.

King County Metro has the second-largest rider increase in the country. The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) announced the results in its “Transit Wrapped 2024” report.

Among the nation’s large transit agencies—those with 50 million or more annual trips, Metro ranked second in the percentage ridership increase over the past year.

“We’ve been proud to lead the way nationally and to make transit the best way to travel our beautiful region,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. “In 2024, Metro added roughly 3,700 weekly bus trips, launched the RapidRide G Line, and created new connections to two Sound Transit Link light rail expansions.”

“More people are certainly choosing transit,” reacted King County Metro General Manager Michelle Allison. “Every week, more than 1.5 million people take Metro for appointments, education, entertainment, shopping and more. We’re ready to take people on even more trips to the people and places they care about in 2025.”

APTA also celebrated the successes of another Puget Sound regional partner. Among transit agencies with 3 to 15 million annual trips, Kitsap Transit was ranked fifth nationally. APTA’s rankings across categories are republished below.

“Transit Wrapped 2024,” as shared by APTA on December 4, 2024

Millions more people across America are riding public transportation in 2024! Check out the transit systems with the largest ridership increases this year.

Systems with 50+ million annual riders:

1. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Washington, DC)
2. King County Metro (King County, Washington)
3. San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (San Francisco, California)
4. Metropolitan Transit System (San Diego, California)
5. Chicago Transit Authority (Chicago, Illinois)

Systems with between 15 and 50 million annual riders:

1. Milwaukee County Transit System (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
2. Montgomery County Transit (Montgomery County, Maryland)
3. Capital District Transportation Authority (Albany, New York)
4. Utah Transit Authority (Salt Lake City, Utah)
5. Pace Suburban Bus (South Holland, Illinois)

Systems with between 3 and 15 million annual riders:

1. John F. Kennedy International Airport (New Jersey and New York)
2. Stanislaus Regional Transit Authority (Modesto, California)
3. Hampton Roads Transit (Hampton Roads, Virginia)
4. METRO Regional Transit Authority (Akron, Ohio)
5. Kitsap Transit (Kitsap County, Washington)

Systems with fewer than 3 million annual riders:

1. Detroit People Mover (Detroit, Michigan)
2. Portage Area Regional Transit Authority (Portage County, Ohio)
3. Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (Marin and Sonoma counties, California)
4. City of Las Cruces (Cruces, New Mexico)
5. Transfort (Fort Collins, Colorado)